WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 105: My Loot Was Stolen
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“What is all this?”
What else could it be? I was backed into a corner.
“The summit of Starlight Mountain, a hidden cave, Nebula... the Shipwreck dungeon... Siren’s Song? And these marked coordinates... Don’t tell me they’re cult branches?”
“...”
“Where on earth did you find all this? There’s so much here that even the Imperial Intelligence Bureau doesn’t know.”
Even when I was in the unit, Adeline would regularly come and go from the barracks where I stayed.
She would fling the doors open and walk in regardless of whether the male soldiers were changing, and the complaints were no joke.
But could they really object?
She was their commander and the Empire’s Greatest Sword.
Still, I never thought she’d pick the lock on someone else’s house and walk in, too.
It would be unfair to call me careless.
As Adeline approached me, I stepped back just as much.
“I’ll ask my cute disciple just one thing. Answer honestly.”
She put the itinerary in my hand.
Her golden eyes seemed ready to melt me.
“Are you affiliated with the cult?”
“Absolutely not.”
I answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Because I really wasn’t.
Adeline continued staring at me for a long while after I answered.
Then.
“...That’s a relief.”
“...Pardon?”
With a faint sigh, she sank into the sofa.
Her expression was filled with relief.
‘...That’s it?’
I had expected a flood of questions.
“To be honest, I’ve suspected you for a while. I wondered whether you might be a spy for the cult.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I was already investigating your background. Nothing turned up, so that only made me more suspicious.”
She had already been digging into my past.
No matter how close Adeline and I were, her loyalties ultimately lay with the Empire.
She couldn’t simply take the optimistic attitude of, ‘Your sister trusts you! So I won’t suspect you!’
I had wondered why she had been so quiet. She must have grown suspicious after the day we met while I was going to save Mine.
But then.
“So I was worried.”
Adeline’s voice cracked slightly.
“I thought... that every moment I spent with you might have all been a lie...”
“...”
“But I’m glad you told me yourself that it isn’t true. Fortunately, you’re not talented at lying.”
Adeline had always maintained at least some of the dignity expected of the Empire’s Greatest Sword.
That was why I couldn’t openly treat her too casually.
But in the original story, she was closer to someone tough on the outside and soft on the inside.
She had accepted the position of instructor because of her comrades’ deaths, and the things she cherished above all else were trust and bonds.
I could tell from Adeline’s face now.
At this moment, the person in front of me wasn’t the Empire’s Greatest Sword.
She was simply a woman sincerely relieved that the disciple she cherished had not gone astray.
Her unquestioning trust pricked at my conscience instead.
I wasn’t affiliated with the cult, but it was true that I was hiding many things from her.
So the only thing I could do for her now was make sure she could trust me without worry.
“Instructor. Let me make this clear here and now.”
“...What?”
“I’m hiding a lot. Some of it is information that would shake the entire Empire the moment it comes to light.”
“...”
“I can’t tell you all of it now. Not yet. But I can swear one thing. I won’t make a choice that disappoints you. And if a moment comes when I can’t find an answer on my own...”
I placed the itinerary I was holding back into Adeline’s hand.
“Then I’ll come to you for advice. Like before.”
Adeline looked back and forth between the itinerary and my face as I held it out to her.
“...There will never be a time when you disappoint me. Even if you did, it couldn’t compare to the hope you gave me when I found you in that dungeon.”
“Thank you.”
“Then... you’ll tell me later?”
“When the time comes, I’ll tell you as much as you want.”
I could feel it instinctively. Even the tiny trace of suspicion remaining in her eyes was melting away.
“...But aren’t you really an idiot? Who leaves something this important where everyone can see it?”
“I know. I didn’t expect someone capable of evading my senses to break in without permission.”
Someone like the Empire’s Greatest Sword.
“...I’m sorry.”
An awkward look crossed Adeline’s face.
So she did know how to apologize.
“Anyway.”
Adeline hurriedly changed the subject.
The itinerary was already in her hand.
“According to this itinerary, my disciple won’t have a moment to rest during vacation. You’re raiding cult branches and hunting for treasure?”
“That’s right. Actually, I’m pressed for time because I overslept today.”
“Well... I suppose it can’t be helped. I was thinking we could go on some cozy field training together over vacation.”
Could field training and cozy really exist in the same sentence?
As expected, Adeline had come because of Climmud.
It seemed she had learned that I was the one who told Alicia about that information.
She had already been suspicious, and the information about the bishop must have added to it.
To confirm it, she had come to suggest we take a trip that would double as training.
Then she happened to see the itinerary on my desk.
If she hadn’t seen it, she probably would have asked me that question during the trip, casually and indirectly.
“It’s a shame, but we’ll have to put it off until next time.”
But as I watched Adeline grumble, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Do I really have to do this alone?’
My plans had already been exposed, and no matter how weak a branch might be, it was still a cult branch. I had no idea what could happen.
Besides, dungeons like the Shipwreck were infamous for being hellishly difficult from the start.
And wasn’t the person who had only existed as an NPC in the original story now alive and breathing right in front of me?
With me there, we could open dungeon doors whenever we wanted.
Wouldn’t it be far more efficient to go with Adeline?
‘Let’s test the waters.’
“Let’s go on that field training.”
“Huh? But you’re busy.”
“I’ve only learned up to the second form of the Belhart Style you taught me. This is perfect. I was actually planning to ask for your guidance soon.”
I pointed to the itinerary in Adeline’s hand.
“But we’ll follow the plan written here.”
“...What?”
A line Adeline had said in the original story came to mind.
‘Blind trust is nothing more than an illusion.’
I completely agreed.
No matter how much I appealed to Adeline for trust, and no matter how much she said she trusted me, people weren’t such simple creatures.
A seed of suspicion would still remain somewhere in her heart.
It would be better to experience everything written here together, show her everything clearly, and put it all to rest.
“Until now, your instruction has all been in the form of sparring. But actual combat and sparring are worlds apart, aren’t they? I’ve recently hit a wall and felt frustrated, so I think watching you fight for real might give me some inspiration.”
Of course, I wasn’t deciding this based on sentiment alone.
I knew her combat ability better than anyone.
I had been run ragged throughout the semester.
I hadn’t skipped training for a single day, nor had I neglected sword practice or farming.
I had died myself, and I had watched my companions die.
So both my body and mind were exhausted right now.
I needed rest.
Yeah. I was going to ride the Adeline bus for a while.
“Pfft!”
Adeline, who had been staring at me blankly, burst out laughing.
“So you’re asking me to do your vacation homework for you?”
She saw right through me immediately.
“...Is that not allowed?”
“Well, I can’t do your homework for you, but if my cute little brother asks for a ‘consultation,’ I can give him as much of one as he needs.”
That meant she was allowing it.
Good.
“Of course... this consultation might be a little rough.”
Maybe not.
Either way, I threw in a little extra as thanks.
“Thank you, Sister.”
“Only when it suits you, I’m your sister!”
Adeline’s eyes widened at the surprise “Sister,” and she smacked my back. Her hand was still vicious.
By the time I had gathered the luggage I had prepared, Adeline was already waiting by the front door.
“What are you doing? Didn’t you say you were pressed for time?”
And so, I boarded the Adeline bus.
⁎⁎⁎
We arrived in Berhart after one in the afternoon.
Berhart was a region I was visiting for the first time as well, but the moment we got off at the train station, I saw Renee waving near the vending machines.
Good. Now I could come here whenever I wanted, too.
Unlike the Ronwood Plains, Berhart was more like a small to midsized city. Naturally, the streets were crowded with people.
After eating at a nearby restaurant, we headed straight for Starlight Mountain.
Starlight Mountain was neither as tall nor as rugged as the Ronwood Mountains.
That was only if you followed the normal hiking trail.
“...Are you sure this is the right way?”
Near the summit, I left the main path for a narrow trail overgrown with brush. Adeline watched me suspiciously.
“You said you’d trust me.”
“Even so, how am I supposed to believe there’s a Rare Shard in a patch of weeds like this?”
“Just see for yourself.”
True to its name, Starlight Mountain was a mountain where starlight shone.
A meteorite had fallen on its summit long ago, and starlight scattered around it was said to guide hikers to the top.
It was an area that suddenly unlocked as you followed the main scenario.
Naturally, players assumed something incredible would be waiting in the newly opened area and headed for the summit.
But all that awaited them was beautiful scenery and a single achievement point related to enjoying the view.
People had complained endlessly that they had wasted time hiking for nothing, calling it a bait map.
But that was only if they climbed it at night.
During the day, things were different.
At the signpost closest to the summit, you ignored the official route, turned into the forest on the right, pushed through the vines, and walked for a long time.
Then you would find a cave.
Inside was a treasure chest containing [Nebula], the ultimate Mana-type Shard that would never drop no matter how much dungeon grinding you did.
After opening the chest, you could learn the backstory.
The meteorite had actually been a dormant monster deflected during a battle between the Evil God and the Main Gods. It died without ever awakening, dropping a treasure chest outside a dungeon.
‘It should be around here.’
After pushing through the vines for about an hour, the entrance to a cave hidden by brush appeared.
Adeline’s eyes widened.
“I told you I was right.”
“...How do you know about a place like this?”
I immediately lit a torch and entered the cave.
The inside was not as deep as I expected. After walking for a while along the damp, moss-covered walls, we soon reached a dead end.
There, all alone, sat an old treasure chest covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it had been there for hundreds of years.
“...It’s really here.”
“I told you it was.”
The moment I raised my Core to unlock it.
‘Wait...’
For some reason, I noticed that only the chest’s opening had no dust on it. And these handprints.
‘...It isn’t locked?’
I hurriedly threw open the lid.
Sure enough.
There was nothing inside but dust.
“...?”
...Why isn’t it here?
It should be here.
Adeline narrowed her eyes at me.
“Mm. I saw that.”
I wished she wouldn’t look at me like that.
I was seriously flustered myself.
‘What happened? It should definitely be here...’
That was when it happened.
“Who’s there?”
Adeline shouted.
Her sharp voice echoed through the cave, and only then did I sense someone else’s presence as well.
I turned my torch toward the darkness.
What I saw was pink hair swaying gently in the cave wind behind a pillar.
A blindingly pure white flash leaked from the hand of an unidentified figure trembling like an aspen.
[Nebula]
My loot was stolen.
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